Australian citizens evacuated from a Dutch-flagged cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak have returned home after two weeks overseas. The passengers will now undergo quarantine and further testing in Western Australia.
Four Australian nationals landed at an air force base near the Western Australian city of Perth on Friday (15 May) aboard a government-chartered flight, local media reported.
The passengers will spend three weeks in isolation at a quarantine facility and undergo further testing, including additional PCR tests.
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said none of the passengers had shown symptoms before boarding the flight and had tested negative for hantavirus before departing the Netherlands.
“They will be transported immediately to the quarantine facility that's effectively next door, and they will be tested again,” Butler told Sky News.
Butler said earlier that additional monitoring was also being considered because of hantavirus’s longer incubation period of about 42 days.
“We're not going to let anything happen that doesn't align with World Health Organization (WHO) advice about the incubation period for this virus,” he added.
The flight crew will also be expected to voluntarily quarantine at the facility for two weeks. Butler said everyone on board remained in full PPE throughout the flight and that the aircraft would be decontaminated.
Eleven passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which set sail from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on 1 April, have contracted the virus, according to the WHO.
The MV Hondius was carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses among passengers was first reported to the WHO on 2 May.
Several passengers were evacuated to the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife on Sunday (10 May), before the ship sailed to the Netherlands the following day carrying the remaining passengers: four Australians, a New Zealander and a Briton living in New Zealand.
Hantavirus is primarily spread through contact with infected rodents, although person-to-person transmission is possible with the Andes strain identified as responsible for the MV Hondius outbreak.
Health experts have nevertheless urged calm, noting the virus is far less contagious than COVID-19 and poses little risk to the wider public. The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers from the cruise.
On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 41 people in the U.S. were being monitored for hantavirus. Earlier, the French health minister said all 26 people under observation in France for possible hantavirus infection had tested negative.
The airline captain celebrated for safely landing a passenger jet on New York's Hudson River in 2009 has revealed he has been diagnosed with early-st...
A brown skua seabird found near New Zealand's capital Wellington has tested positive for H5N1, marking the country's first detection of the bird flu s...
A Turkish-owned civilian merchant vessel carrying 11 Azerbaijani crew members was struck by a drone near Ukraine's Odesa coast on 14 July. Azerbaijani...
The airline captain celebrated for safely landing a passenger jet on New York's Hudson River in 2009 has revealed he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
The death toll from the fire at a live music pub in Bangkok has climbed to 32 after two more victims died from their injuries, according to Thailand's Police Hospital.
Spain booked their place in the World Cup final with a composed 2-0 victory over France on Tuesday, ending the hopes of the tournament favourites and moving within one match of a second World Cup title.
The United States carried out a third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, targeting military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump announced the reinstatement of a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.
The United States and Iran have significantly escalated their conflict, exchanging heavy missile and drone strikes across the Gulf region. Iran claims it has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
An overnight fire at a popular bar in Bangkok has killed at least 30 people and injured 70 others, making it one of the deadliest pub disasters in the Thai capital in recent years. Authorities say the venue quickly filled with thick smoke, trapping patrons inside.
IBM has warned that a surge in spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is weighing on its core business, in one of the clearest signs yet of how the AI boom is reshaping the technology sector.
The death toll from the fire at a live music pub in Bangkok has climbed to 32 after two more victims died from their injuries, according to Thailand's Police Hospital.
One person has died and two others remain missing after a triple-deck pontoon boat carrying 19 people capsized near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 15th of July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Britain will introduce a default overnight curfew on social media apps for 16 and 17-year-olds, expanding planned restrictions aimed at reducing the impact of excessive screen use on young people.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment